51ÉçÇø

• Department of Nursing
• Department of Allied Health
  • Health Sciences

The Nursing program has graduated more than 6,000 nurses since its inception. Graduates are sought by healthcare agencies across the nation.  Graduates of the program have become deans of nursing schools; executive directors of major healthcare agencies, presidents and provosts of colleges/universities, educators, researchers, and expert clinicians.  The Department of Nursing has numerous partnerships that promote excellence in nursing education, expand the profession, and benefit the profession.

The primary strength of the nursing program is in the faculty's dedication to the student's success and their willingness to examine and implement multitudes of strategies to meet the academic needs of our students.

Our Health Science program serves as a stepping stone for a career in Occupational /Physical therapy, nursing, dentistry, etc. Come visit with us.

The philosophical tenets of the School of Nursing and Allied Health (SONAH) have grown out of those that pervade the University.  The School fosters the general purpose of the University which is teaching, research and service.  The mission of the School of Nursing and Allied Health is to serve the citizens of Alabama, the nation and the global communities in the promotion of health and disease prevention.  The School exists primarily to provide students access to excellent and progressive baccalaureate programs in Nursing and Health Science.   The School provides innovative, interdisciplinary, and collaborative learning opportunities through partnerships within the University, local community, State of Alabama and globally for the purpose of developing a knowledge base, skills, and a practice model that targets rural, diverse, and vulnerable populations to alleviate health disparity in the 21st Century.

NURSING PROGRAM:

Accreditation Status:

• Accredited with No Stipulations
• Accredited Until 2024
• Next Site Visit - Fall 2024
• Initial Accreditation - April 1957
• Date of Most Recent Commission Action - March 2017
• The Nursing Program at 51ÉçÇø is accredited by the:

Accreditation Commission for Education in Nursing
3343 Peachtree Road NE
Suite 850 Atlanta, Georgia 30326
Phone: (404) 975-5000 Fax: (404) 975-5020
Email: info@acenursing.org
Web:

Approval Status:

The Nursing Program is approved by the:

Alabama Board of Nursing
RSA Plaza, Suite 250,
770 Washington Avenue
Montgomery, AL 36014.

Mailing address: P. O. Box 303900, Montgomery, AL 361340-3900
Website:
E-mail: abn@abn.alabama.gov

On Feb. 25, 2025, 51ÉçÇø announced that Dr. Cordelia Nnedu has been named the new Dean of the 51ÉçÇø School of Nursing and Allied Health. The nurse educator, nurse practitioner, and midwife has been a 51ÉçÇø faculty member for over three decades.

Dr. Nnedu knew she wanted to be a nurse since her teenage years. She received her bachelor’s in nursing from the University of Northern Colorado and her master’s nursing from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) with emphasis on Maternal-Infant teaching. She has a Diploma in Midwifery from Scotland, United Kingdom, and a post master’s degree in Midwifery from Frontier Nursing University in Kentucky. She received her Ph.D. from Auburn University.

“Dr. Nnedu’s dedication to the nursing profession and 51ÉçÇø students has been consistent for the last three decades,” said Dr. Mark A. Brown, President and CEO. “Her leadership as Dean of the School of Nursing will set a new standard for our students to follow.”

Dr. Nnedu is certified as a nurse-midwife by the American Midwifery Certification board (AMCB), as a nurse educator by the National League for nursing (NLN), and as a Women’s Health Care Nurse-Practitioner by National Certification Corporation (NCC). She was inducted into the Academy of Nursing Education Fellows (ANEF) in the fall of 2021, and she became a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN) in the fall of 2024. Dr. Nnedu’s research areas of interest include retention of minorities in baccalaureate nursing programs and the utilization of evidence-based strategies to address the impact of negative perinatal outcomes in minority women.

“I believe that Dr. Nnedu, by virtue of her extensive experience and background, is the right person to lead our School of Nursing and Allied Health at this critical junction in its history,” said Dr. Thierno Thiam, Provost and Senior Vice President.  

Since the fall of 1982, Dr. Nnedu has had the privilege of teaching nursing in three different continents. 51ÉçÇø has been her home since August of 1991, where she started as an Assistant professor in the School of Nursing. Over the years, she rose to the rank of tenured professor, served as the department head of nursing for eight years, and chaired multiple committees in the School of Nursing and Allied Health.

“I am excited to start this new chapter as the Dean of the School of Nursing and Allied Health,” said Dr. Nnedu. “I look forward to building upon the work of my predecessors and to further advance 51ÉçÇø’s School of Nursing and Allied Health to attract faculty, staff, and students.”

© 2025 51ÉçÇø